Good Bye and Good Riddance!

Only 3 1/2 hours left of 2008. I don't think I've been happier to see a year coming to a close. I have had a pretty rough year and the past week was the definition of hell on earth. (Yeah, I know that doesn't sound too nice with Christmas and all the spiritual holiday stuff, but that's just how it was)

2009 Resolutions:
Live and Let Live

Yep, that's it. My one and only resolution to to remember I have no control over anyone or anything buy myself (and even that is iffy at times) Out of any other resolution I could make, this will probably be the ONLY one that will bring me any peace.

Sorry for making my last blog of the year be so depressing. I know the whole point of a blog is to let my friends and family see a glimpse into the life of my happy little family, but hey, lets be realistic, we aren't always happy. If you are, please send me the phone number to your pharmacist.

Green Christmas

Ok, so EVERY Christmas we ever have will be a "Green" Christmas, but I had childish hopes that it would be a white Christmas, even here in Vegas. It seems like everyone has had a ton of snow heaped on them this passed week. Vegas DID get some snow last week and even had school canceled because of it. It didn't last long and we didn't get any more snow to make my White Christmas fantasy come true. Oh well.
Last week (or maybe the week before?) I took the kids to the photo studio to get some pictures with Santa. The poses were adorable, Santa and the kids were doing great, but the photographer must have been pretty new. None of the pictures with Santa turned out right. We did happen to get this photo of just the kids so that is their Christmas photo this year.


Last Saturday we were going to go down to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory to see the Christmas lights (as we do every year) but decided to take the kids to the Magic Forest instead. It's not really fair to compare the two but the Magic Forest is SO much better. (However, Ethel M is free, so it has it's perks too) For those of you that don't know what it is, there is a place called Opportunity Village that assists disabled people learn life skills and helps them find jobs. Well, they have a little grove of trees on their campus and every year all of the companies in Las Vegas "buy" a tree to sponsor and decorate. So the entire grove of trees is lit up. There is a path to walk through and see everything as well as a train that takes you through the forest. They also have a carousel and a huge slide to go down. The fire department and police department come and let the kids climb all over the firetrucks and turn on the sirens in the police cars. Of course Santa is there and they also had a magic show and lots and lots of other stuff going on.





On Christmas Eve we started the pj tradition. (A little late but you gotta start sometime) I decided to get pj's for each of them that kind of reflect their personalities for the past year. Jay got Optimus Prime pj's because of his obsession with Transformers. Alyssa got ballerina slipper pj's because of her shoe fetish. Our living room is pretty cramped and we couldn't really fit a tree in there so we set up our tree on our porch. Yes, I made the kids go out in their pj's and freeze their little toes to get a picture in front of the tree. I am such a mean mom!!


Christmas morning was fun. The kids actually slept in until 9:30, which is pretty much unheard of. Alyssa was SO excited to see her giant polar bear (which was what we found on our last second shopping trip to Walgreens) and Jay went nuts over every present he opened. It was fun to see the excitement on their faces, and to see Jeremy have as much fun playing with the toys as the kids did.


After a day of trying to get all of the toys out of their boxes (along with the millions of twist ties securing them to said boxes) finding batteries for all of the toys, filling numerous bags with discarded wrapping paper and boxes, dealing with two crazy kids and their sugar highs, I was NOT about to figure out what to make for dinner. We joked about going to a Chinese restaurant and ordering duck, but ended up at the Red Rock Casino. After dinner we walked out to the car to see big, fat, fluffy snowflakes falling. So even if I didn't get a true White Christmas, my Christmas wish of snow was granted. Thanks Santa! :)

It's late and it's been a long day so you won't get a real post tonight. Just wanted to show everyone a cute picture of Jay that had Jer and I cracking up all night.

Shopping

Jeremy and I ditched the kids at a friends house and went shopping with out them. This is our second date night in two weeks. Before that the last time we went out of the house together with out the kids was for his Christmas party...LAST year. How sad is that. We had fun, but it was pretty depressing going to all of the close-out sales. When we walked into Linens-N-Things the whole store was empty except for the front aisle facing the doors and the bedding section off to the right. I was really hoping to find some curtains there as I HATE the ones we have. They are still the old lacy curtains that the last owner left when we bought the condo. Didn't really find anything my style so we went over to Toys-R-Us. Yeah, it was crowded, but considering it was the last Friday night before Christmas, it wasn't too bad. After that we went over to Mervyn's and I just wanted to cry. They are only open for 4 more days. Everything in the store is 70-80% off. Not much was left but we got a dress shirt, three ties and three long-sleeved shirts for Jay. A dress and shoes for Alyssa and some Nike sandals for Jeremy. Including tax, we spent less than $60 total. Our receipt showed we saved $128.19
By this time I was starved so we grabbed dinner at Chipotle (YUM) then headed to Michael's to get some stuff for my Christmas projects. Afterward we went to WalMart to look for stocking stuffers. Our last stop was at Walgreens to see what they had. Let's just say Alyssa will be VERY happy that we made that last stop. (Stay tuned for Christmas morning pics to see why)
Believe it or not, all of this running around only took 4 hours to accomplish. We went and picked up the kids and came home and put them to bed. After I am done blogging and I am sure the kids are asleep, I will start the whole wrapping fiasco. It's a good thing tomorrow is Saturday!!

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday the primary kids had their Christmas Party. Santa came to enjoy some french toast and make ornaments with the kids. After breakfast and craft time they all got to sit on Santa's lap and have their picture taken. I just got this picture e-mailed to me from the photographer. I haven't gotten a copy of Jay's picture yet but will post it when I do.
After the party was over I was helping Santa hang up his costume so we could take it to the cleaners to be ready for the BIG day next week. We got to talking and he told me that he promised Jay he would bring him the "awesome" dinosaur that he wanted (This seemed harmless enough compared to the kids asking for swimming pools, limo's and a million dollars) That is when I told Santa that the "awesome" dinosaur would cost him $130 to build in his toy shop and that it would seriously deplete his cocoa fund if he were to build it. Is there anyway I can get Santa to send Jay a retraction letter?

A Happy Birthday and a Sad Goodbye

Our friend Cliff is having his birthday is next week, so we went out to celebrate today. We went down to the strip to check out the atrium at the Bellagio then went to the Miracle Mile shops before going out to dinner. Usually this would be a lot of fun (it still was) but when you add in 4 children 6 years old and younger, you add an element of craziness to the fun.
Alyssa and Elizabeth were barking like puppies for each other and cracking the other one up. It was very cute to see them giggling but with each bark the volume went up and up. (This little game went from barking to yelping and eventually on to full on screaming...they thought it was a riot) At the Miracle Mile shops we stopped by the Godiva Chocolate shop and got some truffles to share. They were heavenly, but after we ate them we slapped ourselves for giving our already hyper children MORE sugar! On the way back to the car before dinner we stopped at the fountains to watch a show. We got there about 20 minutes before the next show so we let Jay and Elizabeth run around in our little alcove area to burn off some energy. Alyssa was pretty jealous and wanted in on the fun. I didn't want her running around cause she would run off. I decided that I would at least take her out of her stroller and hold her. She was still upset so I tried to give her her lovey. (A miniature version of her silky...see a few post's down) Well, that was NOT what she wanted so she threw it. That girl has a pretty good arm. When she threw it, it didn't land by my feet or even next to the stroller in front of me. No, she chucked the thing over the railing and into the water. She was heart broken when she realized that mommy and daddy couldn't get it for her. We were joking that we were going to see a report on the evening news about the Bellagio fountains being under construction after a baby blanket got caught in the intake pipes. I know we'll never see it again, but I did at least inform security that there was a blanket in the lake and left my info with them if they ever did retrieve it.
After the strip we went to Lone Star for dinner. Poor baby Catherine is teething and hasn't really been feeling well. I felt so bad for Jen at dinner since she was walking around trying to calm her down for about 1/2 of the time we were there.
By the time dinner was over Alyssa needed to go to bed. I dropped off Jeremy and Alyssa at home while Jay and I went out to get a Christmas tree. Since our living room is so crowded we decided to put our tree out on our patio. I have it set up and have the lights strung on it for now. We'll decorate it tomorrow after church.

I Get To Do This Tomorrow Too?

Most of my family is currently on a cruise ship off of the coast of Mexico right now. Stopping in Ensenada tomorrow then onto Cabo San Lucas. Oh, I could SO use that break right now. I was trying to surprise Jeremy for Christmas and take him to rest up for finals, but as I am not currently babysitting we are getting creative just to pay our mortgage. Therefore, any grand ideas of getting away to Mexico for the weekend are just wistful day dreams. On the bright side, when this was a possibility I had called Jer's boss and scheduled the days off about 3-4 months in advance. When I finally accepted that we wouldn't be able to participate in the family vacation I never called to cancel his vacation time.
Turns out that was a HUGE blessing. Jeremy has been stressed with finals coming up and never seems to be able to do his on-line classes at home since there are so many distractions. (Gee you think honey? So how can I do 2 classes online for you?) Since he has a few days off he kindly asked me to get the kids out of the house so he could study. I was gone from 10am to 7PM with the kids (Jay got out of school at 11:30 so I didn't have him the WHOLE time) I am exhausted. It was pretty hard staying away from home all day and not spend a fortune doing things to entertain us. We first went to Walmart to get some diapers and do a little window shopping. Went next door to look at shoes at Payless before picking Jay up from school. We went out for lunch at Sonic and had a "picnic". We got out and sat at the tables rather than eating in the car. After that we headed over to the mall to see Santa, play around the Disney Store, make appointments to have their pictures taken on Monday, play around in another toys store and do even more window shopping. By this time, Alyssa needed a nap so we dropped her off at home with Jer while Jay and I went to the movies. Unfortunately the movie started 10 minutes before we got there so we ended up playing in the arcade and going bowling instead. Then we went to the library where Jay did his homework and we worked our way through a few Amelia Bedelia books and about a dozen other random books Jay picked out. By then Alyssa was up from her nap so we went home to pick her up and cleaned out our car. The kids and I then went grocery shopping at Sam's Club for a few staples we needed then back over to Walmart so Jay could check out the toys. A stop at the gas station was all I could muster on the way home. When we got here Jer was happily finishing his last quiz for one of his classes. He then said, that if he can work just as hard tomorrow then he'll be done with all of his class work and quizes until he takes his finals next week. AHHHHHHHH..... what am I supposed to do with them tomorrow?
I had a few ideas such as going for a bike ride and then taking them over to the gym while I worked off the tater tots from lunch today. The gym has the best day care center ever. Jay likes it better than going to Chuck E. Cheese. After that I am at a loss of what to do. NO MORE WINDOW SHOPPING ALONE WITH 2 KIDS 3 WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!! We do need to do some house work as we are babysitting for some friends tomorrow evening. (We are trading off kids so we can go to our work parties without paying for a sitter. It's our turn to ditch the kiddo's next Saturday.) But trying to clean the house isn't exactly removing the distractions so he can study.
Oh yeah, he has Monday off too and will be wanting to do more studying for the actual exams. HA!! He's getting kicked out to go to the library.

My Favorite Christmas Gift

Ok, so really it is for Alyssa but when I got it in the mail I LOVED it. As you might already know I have a love affair with books. It started at a young age and I never grew out of it. I hope to pass this along to my kids (as I inherited it from my mother and both grandmothers) and so far, my family has been helping me do so.
When I was about 5 or 6, I received an autographed copy of The Napping House from my Aunt Denise. I loved this book, loved that she picked it out just for me and that the author and illustrator personalized a message and a drawing inside the front cover. This was probably one of my all time favorite gifts as a child. I still have the book and read it to my children.
Jeremy's grandmother has a tradition of gifting magazine subscriptions to every one as Christmas gifts. I love getting my Parents magazine every month and Jay pours over every edition of Highlights that comes in the mail. She is a very thoughtful and giving woman. As her family grows with new babies she understands that a 1 year old wouldn't really appreciate a magazine subscription as much as the rest of us. This year she found the PERFECT gift for the little ones instead. This is what we received in the mail (with a prior letter from grandma telling us it was coming and to wrap it up for her to give to Alyssa on Christmas):



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If you can't see the writing very well, double click on the image and it will blow it up bigger so you can read it. The book is all about Alyssa judging an art show on Sesame Street. It is SO cute. For those of you that know my husbands family you might have taken particular notice that the inscriptions reads: From Great Grandma Flyer. I called the customer service number and notified them of the mistake. They pulled the paperwork and it clearly reads: From Great Grandma Plyler. Since it was written correctly on the order form and they messed up with the printing, they are going to make a corrected copy and sent it to us at no charge. The corrected one will be here in time for Christmas. (So anyone else that gets a book like this from grandma, check the inscription ASAP and call the 800 number on the shipping label)

Two-Wheelin' It

Just one more thing I should have blogged about LAST month. Jay learned how to ride his bike. No more training wheels. He was actually freaking out about taking the training wheels off but after he realized that he could do it on his own it wasn't too bad. The handle that I attached to the back of his bike helped a lot. It took about a week for him to master the feat, but he did it.

First we worked on just balancing and riding in a straight line. Next came using the brakes. (Rather than running himself into the curb to stop) After he figured that out we worked on turning. The first few days I took the camera out to take pictures of him I could only get the back view. After helping him get started, he could only go straight (away from me) so I figured we would work on turning next.




Finally I got him to learn how to start pedaling by himself with out me holding the bike balanced when he started. After a few falls, REALLY dirty arms and couple of tears he caught on.

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This picture has nothing to do with Jay riding a bike, I just took it cause it would make some friends and family proud, others annoyed. I promise I am not brainwashing my kids into being Republicans. When my kids grow up I could really care less about what political party they identify themselves with as long as they vote for what they believe in.

Thanksgiving

I know I have a millions things to post to catch up on my blogging, but I figured I would do one post at a time rather than one huge post. If I break it up I will actually accomplish something. Anyway...
Since we have moved to Las Vegas I think we have gone out of town once for Thanksgiving. We usually stay home and celebrate with just our little brood. Last year we decided to start a tradition of taking the family out to see a movie while the turkey was cooking. Last year we took the kids to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. This year we saw Bolt. Since last Thanksgiving was Alyssa's first trip to the movie theater I brought my camera to capture the moment. This year I took my camera again to compare how much she has grown in the past year. WOW...

She seems all grown up. I can't believe how fast these kids grow.

When we got home from the movies I finished cooking the rest of the meal and we ate. At dinner Jay said the prayer. It was the cutest thing ever. After the usual thank you's for the family he said that we were grateful that the turkey died so we could eat it. Ok, I guess that is more morbid than cute, but I found it funny. While we were eating I asked Jay what he was thankful for. He said he was thankful for our family, his friends and for kindergarten. I asked him what he thought Alyssa was thankful for. He said "Her silky". Ain't that the truth!?

Polar Bear Practice

This evening the kids and I went for a walk to enjoy the cool autumn air. It's actually really nice outside, around 62. It was already dark when we set out on our adventure so we just stayed in our condo complex. Jay really likes to go see the pool at night when the lights are on, so we headed over there. I told him that it was WAY too cold to swim but he could put his foot in if he didn't believe me. He put his foot in, looked at me and jumped. When he surfaced he was freezing but I was laughing too hard to be mad at him. Maybe now he will start listening to me when I tell him that the water is too cold. For now he is soaking in a hot bubble bath.

Halloween

We had a very mild Halloween this year. I was a mean mom and limited the kids trick-or-treating to the ward party only. The kids still had a great time and where exhausted when we came home. Jay's favorite super hero of the moment is Iron Man. Since they don't like people wearing masks at the trunk-or-treat, I painted the mask on him. Alyssa wore the skunk costume Jay had at that age. I sure do make pretty cute little stinkers.


Jeremy's costume was a hit. He went as a mad scientist and our car was decorated as his laboratory. We actually won first place in the car decoration contest. I think the plasma ball and the dry ice clenched it for us.

After shopping for all the decorations, making the chili, packing up the car, getting the kids dressed and doing Jeremy's hair for the party, I was to tired to dress up myself. Oh well.

Happy Happy Birthday Jay!

Sorry for posting this so late, I am pretty far behind on my blogging so I am going to try to make up for it all today. Anyway...
My cute little guy turned 6 on October 17th. Since we had planned his birthday party for Saturday, we had our own little family party on Friday night. We took the kids down to the MGM to see the lion habitat then ate dinner at the Excalibur. After dinner we took them to the M&M store and Jay got his picture taken with Elvis on the walk back to the car. It was fun to go down to the strip but we were reminded why we usually only go when we have company in town. The place is a madhouse no matter what time or day you go.
The next day we had his party at a little park next door to the fire station. The kids got to go on a tour of the station, climb all over the fire engines and watch our friend Cliff try on all of the gear. It was a hit with the kids and the adults had fun too. Then back to the park we went where we had the funky looking fire truck cake that I had made. Jay got a lot of fun presents and had a blast with his friends. It was a great party, but I am glad I have a whole year to recuperate before doing this again.

The Kid Knows Her Strengths.

I know I need to post Jay's birthday weekend stuff, but I am procrastinating. In the mean time, I will just give you something to laugh at. Alyssa was getting into Jeremy's tools, but whenever I caught her, she would flash me a big cheesy grin and go put it back. After a few times I laughed at her and said, "Why do I have the smartest, cutest little girl?" Jay's response, "Cause if she wasn't, she'd be in BIG trouble!"

After the Nap

I mentioned in the last post how Alyssa is now stripping to go to sleep. Well, after she woke up from her nap yesterday, I found her with the diaper hanging off of her, but the tabs were still stuck together. She had a diaper tail with a built in belt. Lets keep our fingers crossed that she grows out of this stage quickly.



(Yes, I know there are toys all over her bedroom floor, I am trying to convince myself that it really isn't pointless to pick them up)

DON'T Mess with the Silky!

When Alyssa was a newborn and having problems getting back to sleep after her mandatory feedings (for those of you who don't know what I am talking about, that's another story) I read a suggestion to give her a special blanket that she could ONLY have in her crib. We bought a fuzzy pink blanket with a satin backing. After a few months, she would associate that blanket with bedtime. It always calms her down and she goes right to sleep when we give it to her. One night she was very sick and throwing up constantly. When I put her bedding in the washing machine she would NOT calm down with out her "silky". That led us to buying a back up. (Identical to the first)
Now that she is over her sleep issues, we have let her take it out of her crib and carry it around. (With her thumb in her mouth and her blanket nuzzled up to her cheek, she looks just like Linus) The problem with that is that it goes EVERYWHERE with her. The thing gets FILTHY. Buying the back up has been a life saver. One was pretty nasty after carrying it around outside so I put it in the laundry pile last night and pulled out the clean one.
Well, just as her brother before her, Alyssa is now in the sleeping nude phase. She will wake up in the middle of the night, strip off her clothes and diaper, throw them out of her crib and go to sleep. The problem is when she pees in the night, I have to wash ALL of her bedding every day.
So, when it was time to put her down for her nap, BOTH silkies were in the laundry pile. Uh Oh... I quickly started a load, threw all the bedding and both silkies in. Alyssa saw this and started SCREAMING! She wanted a silky NOW! Poor thing had a pretty big tantrum, banging on the washing machine and just sobbing and sobbing. She refused any other blanket I gave her. I picked her up and put her in her crib while I went to find something (ANYTHING) with the same type of material. That is when I came across MY baby blanket. I gave it to her and she calmed right now, but would NOT go to sleep. She was on a napping strike until she got her silky back!
I finally gave up on the whole nap idea and let her get up, eat lunch and play for a while. By 1PM she NEEDED a nap. Luckily by then the laundry was dry. I pulled a silky out of the dryer and put her to bed. She gave me the biggest smile when I gave it to her. She then stuck her thumb in her mouth and was asleep in less than 3 minutes.

Secret Life of the Mail Man

Jay and I went to check the mail this afternoon. When he unlocked the box and saw it was empty I pointed out that the mailman was at the other box down from us and that he hasn't gotten to us yet. As we walked back inside the mail man drove off in the opposite direction from our mailbox (this is normal, he does a circle and comes back) Jay got upset that he was "forgetting our mail". I told him that he would be back in a few minutes. Jay thought about it for a second and then told me that he was going home to take a bath. About 20 minutes later Jay told me that he was done bathing (Jay really said he was done bath-ing, not bathing) and that we could go check the mail now. When we went back to check and the mailbox was still empty Jay said, he should be done by now, WHAT can he still be doing in the tub?
I have a few questions. 1st, of all the things the mailman could be doing, why was he taking a bath. 2nd, where in the world does Jay come up with these random thoughts? And 3rd, how can I get Jay to realize that 20 minutes in the bathtub really IS too long and he needs to get out?

Rainy Days and Mondays

Ok, how many of you now have a Carpenters song stuck in your head? Today we received our allotted annual rainfall. (All in 20 minutes) Rain is such a rarity in Vegas that we had to go out and make the most of it. When I was younger I loved playing in the rain, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder. Today I am passing the tradition down to my little ones.
We heard the thunder and ran out to play. Once outside we saw the Syndergaards doing the same thing so we walked over to their house and played. There is something about splashing in puddles that is fundamentally necessary in childhood. Jay and Olivia were having fun playing tag but kept falling on the slippery pavement. Alyssa and Luke were both laying in the gutter, taking a bath, all the while trying to take a drink when they thought Carly and I weren't looking. (EWWWW) Even little Sophie was having fun feeling the rain drops on her hand. All of the kids were soaked head to toe, but had huge smiles on their faces as they splashed around.
Not only was the rain desperately needed for the moisture, but it cooled things off a bit too. It was actually refreshing rather than muggy. It was such a cozy afternoon. Perfect for snuggling on the couch after the kids got out of the tub. Makes me want to move to Seattle!

Swimming

The pool has been a life saver this week. With all the stress and drama going on around here, it's wonderful to have a place to relax and unwind. We've gone swimming more this week than the passed month combined simply to save my sanity. I was even desperate enough to take all 4 kids on my own on Wednesday. It was pretty interesting trying to keep a 23 month old, 19 month old and 9 month old all in their respective flotation devices and keep an eye on Jay at the same time. It was nice to cool off after our walk home from school, but I won't be doing that again any time soon.
I know I have always been a fish around water, but I seem to have passed that trait onto both of my kids. I am so proud of Jay swimming with out his floaties now for nearly a month. Alyssa refuses to sit in a pool ring so I put her in one of Jays old blow-up suits. Today she was doggy-paddling on her own. (Meaning I wasn't holding her at all!) I was SO proud of her!! She was treading water and moving around to where she wanted to go all on her own. Pretty impressive for a 19 month old!
So if you call and I don't answer, I'm at the pool! (And will be staying there until it's too cold to get in)

When It Rains, It Pours

Quite literally in our situation. As I am typing this, it is raining in my bedroom. Right over Jeremy's pillow in fact, but I will get to this later.
As many of you know we have been having car problems again. (Or should I say STILL?) The AC compressor seized so Jeremy installed a bypass pulley. It corrected the problem we were having, but now our car will not upshift at all. It is stuck in 1st gear, so that means we can drive it but only up to about 40-45mph MAX. (Yes, we know we shouldn't really be driving it at all) At that speed we are pretty close to 4K RPMs so we are probably getting about 5mpg. We think a power train cable was knocked loose when he installed the pulley so we need to take the car into our mechanic who advised us to get rid of our lemon 3 years ago.
I have also been VERY sick this weekend. It started out with nausea and a bad headache on Friday then turned into chills, high fever, body aches and exhaustion on Saturday. On Sunday I missed our friends baby blessing, flaked out on my visiting teaching and gave my sub for the Nursery only an hours notice. Luckily I was able to sleep all weekend and woke up today feeling much better, but still had the headache.
Since I had slept so much this weekend, I really couldn't go to sleep tonight. I've been up reading the news online, poking around facebook, watching re-runs of Bones then finally went to bed where I tossed and turned for at least an hour. I was just starting to actually get in a comfortable position where I might have been able to fall asleep if it hadn't been for the persistent dripping. At first I thought the guy upstairs was taking a shower, but it soon became evident that the water was NOT in the pipes. I woke up Jeremy just as the water started to drip on his face. I got dressed and raced upstairs and pounded on the neighbors door. The poor guy sleepily answered the door in his boxers and was quite confused when I told him that there was a monsoon in my bedroom. He then went and checked his guest bathroom where the connector hose from the toilet to the water line had burst and sprayed a good 15-20 gallons of water over the floor. I ran to the water main and shut off his water and Jeremy took our steam cleaner upstairs to help him suck up the water. We are now surveying the damage in our place. The ceilings in our kids bathroom, our bedroom, hall way and Jay's walk-in closet all need to be torn out and replaced. I still need to check Alyssa's room but am not about to wake her up right now. We will also need the carpet in our bedroom ripped up and replaced.
So now it is almost 4AM. I am wide awake and will have a my spare kids dropped off in about 2 1/2 hours.
Some might say that it is too early to laugh at this situation, but I am actually busting up about all of this. I think that my be a good sign that I am officially ready to be institutionalized. Please contact the state hospital to donate to my shock therapy treatments and anti-psychotic medications.

School Days

It FINALLY came! Jay's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited he woke up at 6AM and told me it was time to go. He wasn't too happy when I made him go back to bed. Jeremy gave him a father's blessing before he left for work then I had to pack up my troupe and get going. I had Alyssa and Kobe in the stroller and then had Brenden in the Baby Bjorn. (Kobe and Brenden are the little boys I babysit. Kobe will be 2 next month and Brenden is 8 months) We took the long way there through the park to waste some time since Jay was dragging me out of the house at 8:15 and his school's only a mile away. (School doesn't start until 8:55)
When we got to school Jay put his back pack away and went to play on the playground until it was time to go inside. We got a few pictures of him playing and with his teacher then it was time to go. I had no idea what all those other first time parents were so worked up about. I couldn't wait to get Jay into school. Then it was time for the parents to leave and the teacher closed the door. Then it hit me. My baby is in school! I started tearing up a little on the walk home.




We made it home at 9:15 so we only had an hour and 45 minutes before it was time to leave again to go pick him back up. Just enough time to feed the little ones and let them have a short nap. Then back in the stroller they go.
When we picked up Jay I could tell he was tired. (That's what happens when you get up at 6AM) He was in a pretty cranky mood so I was worried that his enthusiasm from this morning was going to be very short lived. He was kind of a bear on the walk home, but after some lunch and quiet time, he's good to go and is already starting on his homework.
On the other hand, I have no idea how I am gonna walk him back and forth every day with the other three kids if this heat doesn't die down soon. I was pretty temped to jump in the pool fully clothed before heading inside. On the bright side, the benefits of walking 4 miles everyday will out weigh the sore knees and back.

Perparation

Tonight is a very exciting yet bittersweet event in my life. This is the last night before Jay starts school. We are both SO ready to have him out of the house for 2 1/2 hours everyday. He met his teacher and saw his classroom on Friday, his backpack is ready to go and his clothes are laid out in preparation for the morning. I am asking myself, Is this it? It doesn't seem like that big of a deal right now. I am sure that when they close the doors tomorrow morning I will feel differently. To get myself in the mood for back-to-school time and the fall, I updated my background to something more festive. This really is my favorite time of year....I can't wait for the temperatures to cool off.

Random 5

Thanks Meka, now you will see just how boring I really am. ;)

Rules: Name 5 random things about yourself, then tag 5 people. Make sure you comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged!
Plus - If you want, add a random picture.. kinda makes it more fun!

My Random Photo: Northern Paiute Duck Decoy (I actually wrote a story about them for the Nevada History class I took for Jeremy)


1. I've got a weird ability to remember numbers and dates. I have 9 sibilings, Jeremy has 6, all but 3 are married. Together we have 22 nieces and nephews. I have every one of their birthdays and anniversaries memorized. (So even when you don't get a call or card from me, I AM remembering you....BTW Happy Birthday TODAY Jason!!) Old account numbers, phone numbers, address, I know them all. Kinda freaky. I even remember the phone number my parents had when we lived in Yuciapa when I was 3 years old. (714-795-6740...this was BEFORE they changed to the 909 area code)
2. On average, I change 75 diapers/week
3. I've been afraid of my closet ever since I watched the Saw movies.
4. The only reason I'm NOT looking forward to Jay starting kindergarten is because it means that I have to be up and dressed by 8AM everyday. I have fully taken advantage of being a SAHM this passed year by not getting dressed until noon...sometimes later)
5. I saved all the notes my friends wrote to me in Jr. High and will re-read them whenever I come across the box they are in. (Does anyone remember writing in Etruscan thinking we were cool and that no one else could read it. Yes, Darrell, I am talking to you here!)

I am tagging Tasey, Christy (cause she SERIOUSLY needs to update her blog), Amy, Coral and Raela

My Trip to Utah as A Single Mom

WOW!! What a weekend! It was SO much fun but exhausting since I had to wrangle my two whirlwinds all by myself. (Jer was stuck at work) I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, expecting to get my "Utah Fix" then come home and be glad I don't live there with all the crazy Utah drivers and the sheltered life style. BOY WAS I WRONG! I am now more home sick than ever. I miss my family and friends and just Utah in general. When I see Mt. Timpanogos, I know I am home.



On Friday I went hiking with my brothers and their kids to Timpanogos Caves. We had a fun time but I won't be doing it again until Alyssa can hike up by herself!! I got nearly 1/2 way up the mountain and felt like I was gonna die. Luckily Bryan rescued me and hauled her up the rest of the way. (Even after we had to leave the baby backpack at the split off, he still carried her on his shoulders!) THANK YOU UNCLE BRYAN!!! I took a few pictures on the way up thinking that I would get all the shots I wanted on the way down when I wasn't struggling to make it up the hill. Unfortunately my batteries died while we were in the caves, so I didn't get all the ones I wanted. Oh well, here are a few that I did get:

Our group getting ready to start the hike:


Jay, Alyssa and I (Luckily Jay's mood improved)


Bryan saving me by taking Alyssa the rest of the way!


We were all exhausted when we made it to the top but Alyssa wanted to do her own hiking now that she was out of the back pack. She found a walking stick just her size and started exploring the outer caves where you wait to go in.


WE MADE IT!!! WHOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!


Bryan, Sydney and Briget at the top!


On Saturday we went to a picnic for all of the Timpanogos 1998 graduates and their families. It was so nice for Jay to have kids his own age to play and rough house with. It's hard on him to have to play softly all the time with all the babies around here. Alyssa had fun exploring the whole park before finally playing on the playground. It was fun to catch up with a lot of people I hadn't seen in 10 years and others I had completely forgotten about.

After the picnic, Uncle Bud and Aunt Michele had a bar-b-que at their home. It was fun to have everyone over, but I had to leave after an hour to go to the reunion dinner. I picked up an old friend while his wife watched my kiddos and we went to UVU for the reunion. Still fun to see more people and get a chance to socialize with out worrying where the kids had run off to. When I was in high school I was one of the team managers for the football team. I got a picture of me with the 6 players that actually came to the reunion.


On Sunday I drove to Payson to see my mom, grandpa and little brother. We had a little picnic in the park on Main Street. Grandpa hadn't seen Jay since his baby blessing and had never seen Alyssa. It was good to get some pictures of them. My most favorite picture of our whole trip is Grandpa pushing Alyssa on the swings.


Dylan carrying Jay on his shoulders. I really like this pictures, messy faces and all.


Great-Grandpa Tolman with the kiddos


Grandma Tolman and the snuggle-bug


We then drove all over Utah Valley and ended up at a new park in Orem (thank you again Bryan for the tip....we LOVED this park) If any one is in the area, you should check it out. It's off of Sandhill Road and 2000 South (The road that Walmart is on....just drive down the street away from the college and it will be on your left after a few blocks) By then the kids were getting hungry so we went to the mall in Provo for lunch and got some school clothes for Dylan. In the car, Dylan was putting Alyssa's hair bows in his hair to make the kids laugh. I told him that I'd buy his lunch and get new trucks for his skateboard if he wore the hair bows the entire time we were at the mall. Well, he had a full stomach and has new trucks, but I have black mail photos. hehehe

What being a Grandma is all about!


Alyssa taking time to smell the flowers.


Dylan teaching Jay to jump off the swings. I can't believe he didn't break anything when he landed. Hope I can say the same for Jay when he tries to do this on his own.


I am SHOCKED neither of the kids jumped in the fountain!!


He thinks he's cool, but just see the next picture to remedy that thought!


Princess Dylan with the munchkins. I think I will put this one in his yearbook when he graduates! LOL


On Monday morning, after the delicious breakfast Aunt Michele made for us, we packed up the car, bathed the kiddos and put them in their church clothes hoping to go back to the park and take pictures by all the flowers. We ran out of time but did get one picture in front of Uncle Bud and Aunt Michele's house.


We then went to my mom's work to pick up the diaper bag we left at her house the day before, stopped by Dana's house for a few minutes to visit then drove out to Eagle Mountain to see some old friends. (Then a quick trip back to Bud and Michele's to get my cell phone charger) We didn't get on the road to come home until 5:30 and made it home at 10PM We were all exhausted, my calves still hurt from the hike and we have a mountain of laundry to do, but we had the time of our lives. Can't wait to go back again (Preferably WITH Jeremy next time)